ridin' dirty in the '87 vw golf

this car is boss. they don't make them like this anymore. took a little while to adjust to the clutch...

VIDEO: fontaine stravinsky

just next to the centre georges pompidou - a modern art museum - there is a fountain full of fun modern art sculptures and surrounded by cafés and little resto's. the fountaine stravinsky is a great place to go for a coffee or cold drink in the afternoon.

monmarte, place du tertre, sacre coeur

from the metro stop anvers on line 2, you are faced with an ascending street filled with souvenir shops and bad crêperies. this neighborhood, monmarte, is constantly buzzing and worth the visit for the good and the bad - the cheap prints of famous art and the impossible crowds, the nikes that "fell off the truck" and the locals who want to sell you aluminum eiffel tower figurines or tie pieces of string to your wrist. it is also the gateway to some of the city's most precious 'endroits'. here is monmarte from the top of the street.

once you get to the top of the 'rue' you face a structure straight out of minas tirith. this looming structure is the sacre coeur basilica. there is an impossibly long set of stairs or crowded elevator that costs a metro ticket that stand in your way. or you can do what i do, and turn left at the base of the steps and wind through the streets of monmarte. i window shop. i stop for a drink. finally i arrive at the plaza before sacre coeur - the famous artist plaza - 'place du tertre'. in certain moments picasso and chagall could have been found working here or having a coffee. the plaza is still buzzing with artists on a daily basis. most are doing quick portraits of tourists but some are still working on original pieces. the restaurants in this plaza are overpriced, but there is a small free art gallery where you can purchase original dalís, picassos and chagalls. but seriously. you can buy them. don't worry, the shipping is free.

in that last picture you can see it peeking out: the sacre coeur basilica. the building was constructed starting in the late 19th century as a catholic basilica and an act of political penance. for me it is a place to view the whole of paris, have a snack and a drink on the endless steps at the foot of an unbelievable structure, listen to musicians and watch street performers, and consciously let the hours slip away.

exercise to charge your device

just a quick post - at some of the stations here in france they have places for you to charge your devices for free. the only catch is that you have to power the outlet using a stationary bike!

la madeleine

la madeleine is an enormous temple of pillars that oversees 8th district of paris. i learned that it has a history of being built and destroyed and rebuilt since the 18th century. in the end, good ole' napoleon is responsible for her construction; la modern madeleine was built as a temple to his great army. after his fall came the catholic restoration, which saw this temple repurposed as a church dedicated to mary magdalene. its blended history is represented by its mixed appearance. from the outside we see a pantheon and inside we are in a cathedral. always moved by the mixed history here in france.

institut du monde arabe and le grand voyage

the arab world institute is an impressive site from outside.

inside there is a temporary exhibit about hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca. out of respect for the somber tone of the museum i did not take photos, however the exhibit is described in detail by clicking here.

the exhibit is awe-inspiring, and words will fall short. i have a new understanding of the movie le grand voyage (click here for imdb site). the movie is especially successful at making hajj understandable for my generation and people of different faiths. here is the trailer:

place de la concorde, tuileries, musée de l'orangerie

the musée de l'orangerie is a perfect stop in paris. it is just next to place de la concorde at the end of the tuilerie gardens. the gardens stretch from the louvre to place de la concorde and from here you can see palaces, the obelisk of place de la concorde, the eiffel tower, the louvre and the arc de triumph.

at end of the gardens there are two identical museums, jeu de paume and l'orangerie. i visited the former two years ago, so we decided to go to l'orangerie. there is a collection from paul guillaume including matisse, picasso, renoir, and others. stunning pieces by these renowned artists would normally captivate me, but oddly enough they were white noise - wallpaper. 

that's because upstairs the gallery is dedicated to the water lilies, les nymphéas, by claude monet. there are eight wall-sized sections of nymphéas split between two rooms constructed to house them. 

the gallery is relatively silent in these rooms, as people like me stop and get a sense of where they are and what they are looking at.

picnic on the seine in paris

paris can get really expensive really quickly. trying to save some money and to do as the parisians do, we have been making picnics by the seine.

there's notre dame in the background!

la alhambra - in pictures

la alhambra is a castle in granada that represents a historical mix of cultures. it contains walls built by the jews, a majority of the structure built by muslims and changes and additions made by the catholics. it was the last stronghold of the muslims as the catholic kings made their way from north to south during the reconquest. it still stands intact because the muslims agreed to leave peacefully if the catholics did not destroy it. instead, they moved in. the mirador san nicolas post shows what la alhambra looks like from outside. here are some highlights from inside:

beaches of southern spain

we hit up some of my favorite beaches in southern spain this year. from motril we drove to agua dulce, which was interesting because i am not the most confident standard driver and we had to wind through autovía del mediterráneo.

it was worth it for a beautiful beach with great seafood tapas.

torrenueva was another beach stop we made to visit with my friend jorge and his family. this was much closer to motril and much less perilous to reach.

we also visited salobreña, which is a more popular vacation spot for spaniards from the south.